In medical technology, various treatment units, to which patients are connected or which are connected to patients, are used for the treatment of patients. The connection between patient and machine generally takes place via tubes and/or lines. The known treatment units include, for example, dialysis machines with an extracorporeal blood circuit.
It is known to operate medical treatment units together with one or more peripheral devices. Such satellites serve, for example, to monitor the patient during the treatment, the ascertained patient-specific data being transmitted to the treatment unit.
During dialysis, for example, physiological data of the dialysis patient are detected with various sensors. An attempt is made to ensure that the connection between patient and dialysis machine and the peripheral device consists only of the necessary blood tubes of the extracorporeal blood circuit and as few other lines as possible.
Whereas a fixed connection exists between the treatment unit and the patient via the tubes, the data transmission between the peripheral device and the treatment unit can take place wirelessly, for example by radio or light signals. Consequently, the operative can immediately detect the allocation between the treatment unit and the patient on the basis of the fixed connection, but not the allocation between the peripheral device and the treatment unit.
If a plurality of treatment units and peripheral devices are operated together in a treatment area, it is necessary to allocate in each case one treatment unit and one peripheral device to a patient and to produce a connection from the respective peripheral device to the respective treatment unit.
An incorrect allocation between the peripheral device and the treatment unit on the one hand and the peripheral device and the patient on the other hand can in the extreme case lead to life-threatening complications during the treatment. This is especially problematic when the incorrect allocation is not detected immediately on account of a cableless connection.
If a plurality of devices which are communicating with one another are operated at the same time, use is generally made of so-called identification (ID) signals, with which it can be detected whether the signals of the one or the other satellite are being received. U.S. Pat. No. 6,332,094 B1, for example, describes a pulsometer, which transmits pulse signals together with an identification signal wirelessly to a receiver.
International Application Publication No. WO 20041056263 A1 describes a method for the wireless transmission of signals between a plurality of peripheral devices and a plurality of treatment units. Allocated to the treatment units is a plurality of receivers, which receive the signals of the peripheral devices. The readiness of the receiver for receiving the signals of the peripheral devices is produced by the fact that the peripheral device notifies the receiver. Only in the state of readiness for reception does the receiver convert the signals of the peripheral device which are transmitted to the respective treatment unit.
There is known from U.S. Pat. No. 6,870,475 B2 a charging station for charging the battery of a portable medical monitoring unit, which serves for the monitoring of patient-specific data. The patient monitoring system provides a large number of charging stations at different points, into which the patient can insert the monitoring unit in order to charge the battery. Patient-specific data of the portable monitoring units can be transmitted wirelessly to a central monitoring unit.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,184,651 B1 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,455,466 describe in general terms charging stations for charging the battery of electrical devices, wherein an inductive coupling takes place between the electrical device and the charging station.
The problem underlying the invention is to increase the reliability and flexibility during the operation of at least two medical treatment units and peripheral devices.